Tag: pain relieving gel

Last week, I woke up and realized that I am getting old! Somehow, I managed to sleep wrong (is that even a thing?), and I woke with a major kink on the right side of my neck/trap muscle. OUCH! I tried stretching it, heating it with a grain bag, massaging it, etc. but it just wouldn’t give!

Because I had a busy day in front of me, I knew I needed something that could dull the pain while this thing calmed down. I don’t do pain relievers such as ibuprofen unless it is a dire emergency, so I tried to think of something to use that would help throughout the day. Icy hot/Ben Gay came to mind, but I wasn’t sure about the ingredients in them. Thankfully, I knew about the EWG (Environmental Working Group) website.

The EWG website’s skin deep cosmetic guide is a great tool to figure out if any beauty product or ingredient is safe. The following pin gives some useful facts and links to the website.

I hopped on my computer and within a couple of minutes, I discovered that those Icy Hot/Ben Gay products aren’t too great…I’ve seen worse, but I knew I could do better. I looked at the main ingredients, and saw menthol and camphor as a common ingredient. Both of these have an excellent safety rating on the site so I figured why not make my own pain relieving cream/gel with these as my main ingredients?

Guess what? It worked!!! Both in that the recipe turned out great – it’s safe and non-toxic, and it helped to relieve my pain throughout the day as long as I reapplied as needed. I am also happy to report that the kink finally let up a few days later, and I’m doing much better now. I’m so glad that I now have this cream/gel recipe on hand for any future incidents that may arise! It is perfect for runners as it will soothe away any soreness after a great workout! Heck, it’s perfect for anyone that gets minor aches and pains here and there!

HOMEMADE SAFE AND NATURAL PAIN RELIEVING GEL

Ingredients (I made a small batch since I knew I would only need a little bit. This recipe makes about 2 ounces of gel, but you can easily double or even triple the recipe to make more):